Weather detection and intensity evaluation

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein may relate to weather sensors and particularly to methods and systems related to collecting weather data and other site-specific data. The system may also be used to collect data on hydrometeors, especially hail. Some, but not all of the things a system described can determine are the kinetic energy, diameter, mass, and velocity.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A hydrometeor damage potential information capturing and processing system, comprising:
 a plate comprising an upper surface and a lower surface, configured to vibrate when a hydrometeor impacts the upper surface; 
 a plurality of sensors, directly coupled to the plate, configured to translate the vibrations into electrical wave data, wherein the plurality of sensors are coupled adjacent the lower surface of the plate, wherein the plurality of sensors are placed in a way that the impact position of the hydrometeor can be calculated through the differences of the vibrations; 
 an analog-to-digital converter, communicatively coupled to the plurality of sensors, configured to receive and convert the electrical wave data to digital vibration data; 
 a central processing unit, communicatively coupled to the analog-to-digital converter, configured to: 
 receive the digital vibration data; 
 analyze the digital vibration data, at least in part by interpolating attributes of the digital vibration data to a lookup table accessible by the central processing unit to create interpolated digital vibration data; 
 create composite data from the interpolated digital vibration data; 
 send the composite data to non-volatile flash memory to be stored; and 
 transfer the composite data to one or more centralized servers via one or more networks for further analysis, 
 wherein the composite data comprises one or more of kinetic energy, impact position, or density of the impacting hydrometeors, and wherein the system comprises an early warning system based upon a network of hydrometeor damage potential information capturing and processing systems, wherein when a storm cell releases hydrometeors of a predetermined threshold, which are detected by the network of hydrometeor damage potential information capturing and processing systems, the system accurately predicts and defines the direction of the storm cell and the frequency of the impacts. 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of sensors is coupled adjacent to the center of the lower surface of the plate. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the upper and lower surfaces of the plate are square shaped. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the upper and lower surfaces of the plate are rectangular shaped. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the lower surface of the plate is mounted to a roof surface. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the upper plate surface comprises, at least in part, solar electric panels. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the upper plate surface comprises, at least in part, roofing materials or products. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the upper plate surface comprises, at least in part, ventilation materials or products. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the upper plate surface comprises, at least in part, heating ventilation and air conditioning_(′HVAC″) materials. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the sensors comprise at least one of the following data recording devices:
 piezoelectric accelerometers; 
 piezoresistive accelerometers; 
 capacitive MEMS; 
 strain gauges; 
 pressure sensors; 
 laser displacement sensors; 
 eddy current sensors; or 
 capacitive displacement sensors. 
 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the digital vibration data is filtered to create signal energy data, wherein the signal energy data extracts the signal components correlating best with the intensity of the plurality of hydrometeors impacts, and wherein the signal energy data is used as the main hydrometeor intensity gauging feature. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a global positioning system radio and antenna, wherein the global positioning system radio and antenna provides accurate coordinate location data. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 12 , further comprising a barometric pressure sensor that can provide accurate altitude for the plurality of sensors location. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the central processing unit provides real-time signal analysis of the plurality of sensors, and monitors barometric pressure, orientation, tilt, and temperature, along with additional add-on sensors that may be deployed. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 1 , further comprising the network of hydrometeor information capturing and processing systems, located in a regional area, collectively used as an early warning system, wherein the early warning system transmits a plurality of visual data and information to the one or more centralized servers via one or more networking devices, and wherein the centralized servers send a plurality of signals with a warning message to mobile computing devices of end users. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the upper and lower surface of the plate are round shaped. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plate is comprised of a solar electric panel. 
     
     
       18. A method of capturing and processing hydrometeor damage potential information comprising:
 collecting a plurality of vibrations from a plurality of hydrometeor impacts on an upper surface of a plate; 
 transferring the plurality of vibrations through the plate to a plurality of sensors, coupled to a lower surface of the plate, wherein the plurality of sensors are placed in a way that the impact position of the hydrometeor can be calculated through the differences of the vibrations; 
 translating the vibrations by the plurality of sensors into electrical wave data; 
 sending the electrical wave data to an analog-to-digital converter via a communication link; 
 converting the electrical wave data to digital vibration data at the analog-to-digital converter; 
 sending the digital vibration data to an on-board central processing unit via the communication link; 
 processing the digital vibration data by the on-board central processing unit, wherein the on-board central processing unit analyzes the digital vibration data, at least in part by interpolating attributes of the digital vibration data to a lookup table accessible by the central processing unit to create interpolated digital vibration data, wherein the interpolated digital vibration data is sent to secondary non-volatile flash memory where it is stored; and wherein the interpolated digital vibration data is transferred to one or more centralized servers via one or more networking devices for further analysis; 
 creating composite data from the interpolated digital vibration data; 
 sending the composite data to non-volatile flash memory to be stored; and 
 transferring the composite data to one or more centralized servers via one or more networks for further analysis, wherein the composite data comprises one or more of impact location, kinetic energy, or density of the impacting hydrometeors, and wherein the method comprises configuring an early warning system based upon a network of hydrometeor damage potential information capturing and processing systems, wherein when a storm cell releases hydrometeors of a predetermined threshold, which are detected by the network of hydrometeor damage potential information capturing and processing systems, the method accurately predicts and defines the direction of the storm cell and the frequency of the impacts. 
 
     
     
       19. A hydrometeor damage potential information capturing and processing system comprising:
 a plate comprising an upper surface and a lower surface, configured to vibrate when a hydrometeor impacts the upper surface, wherein the plate has a planar shape; 
 a plurality of sensors, coupled adjacent the plate, configured to translate the vibrations into electrical wave data, wherein the plurality of sensors are coupled adjacent the lower surface of the plate, wherein the plurality of sensors are placed in a way that the impact position of the hydrometeor can be calculated through the differences of the vibrations; 
 an analog-to-digital converter, communicatively coupled to the plurality of sensors, configured to receive and convert the electrical wave data to digital vibration data; 
 a central processing unit, communicatively coupled to the analog-to-digital converter, configured to 
 receive the digital vibration data; 
 analyze the digital vibration data, at least in part by interpolating attributes of the digital vibration data to a lookup table accessible by the central processing unit to create interpolated digital vibration data; 
 create composite data from the interpolated digital vibration data; 
 send the composite data to non-volatile flash memory to be stored; and 
 transfer the composite data to one or more centralized servers via one or more networks for further analysis, 
 wherein the composite data comprises one or more of impact location, kinetic energy, or density of the impacting hydrometeors, and 
 wherein the system comprises an early warning system based upon a network of hydrometeor damage potential information capturing and processing systems, wherein when a storm cell releases hydrometeors of a predetermined threshold, which are detected by the network of hydrometeor damage potential information capturing and processing systems, the system accurately predicts and defines the direction of the storm cell and the frequency of the impacts. 
 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 19 , wherein the digital vibration data collected from the plurality of sensors are combined to create a single intensity feature that averages the signal strength, thus removing the probability of over excitement of the plurality of vibration sensors. 
     
     
       21. The system of  claim 19 , wherein the positioning of the plurality of sensors captures a variation in vibrations from the plurality of hydrometeor impacts to increase accuracy of the captured vibrations.